Case Digest (G.R. No. 179566)
Facts:
Spouses Loreto G. Nicolas and Lolita Sarigumba v. Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association (ARBA), G.R. No. 179566, October 19, 2016, Supreme Court Third Division, Jardeleza, J., writing for the Court.The dispute centers on a 429,314-sq. m. parcel in Barangay Sto. Niño, Tugbok District, Davao City, originally recorded under TCT No. CL-143 and CLOA No. 00044912, with ARBA and several individual respondents as agrarian beneficiaries. On August 31, 1998, petitioner Loreto G. Nicolas (with co-petitioner Olimpio R. Cruz) filed a petition with the Provincial Adjudicator of the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB) (DARAB Case No. XI-1482-DC-98) seeking cancellation of the CLOA and reinstatement of two titled parcels (TCT Nos. T-162077 and T-162078) on the ground that the lands were non-agricultural and thus outside CARP coverage.
The Provincial Adjudicator granted the petition on May 14, 1999. While ARBA and others perfected appeals, Nicolas and Cruz caused execution of the Provincial Adjudicator’s ruling pending appeal: the Register of Deeds cancelled CL-143, reinstated the PhilBanking titles, then those titles were transferred to Nicolas and Cruz and subsequently subdivided into six titles; one parcel (T-328626) was sold to Spouses Marciano and Judith Tapiador. ARBA and co-respondents filed DARAB Case No. XI-1661-DC-2001 seeking nullification of those acts as void for having been done pending appeal and in violation of DARAB procedure.
The Regional Adjudicator dismissed ARBA’s complaint on July 9, 2001 for litis pendentia and lack of jurisdiction. Separately, in the Nicolas, et al. petition the DARAB initially reversed the Provincial Adjudicator (Sept. 24, 2001), but the Court of Appeals reversed the DARAB on October 12, 2004, ordering cancellation of CL-143 and declaring the lands exempt from CARL. Petitions for review before the Supreme Court were filed (G.R. Nos. 168206, 168394, 168684); the DAR’s and Ramos’s petitions were denied, while ARBA’s petition (G.R. No. 168394) proceeded and resulted in a decision recognizing Nicolas and Cruz as lawful assignees and declaring the parcels exempt from CARL.
Meanwhile, DARAB reversed the Regional Adjudicator in the ARBA complaint and on June 14, 2005 rendered a judgment (DARAB Case No. 10860) declaring null and void the cancellation of CL-143, the transfers to PhilBanking and subsequently to Nicolas and Cruz, and the subdivided titles and sale to the Tapiadors, on the ground that the execution pending appeal was improper. Nicolas and Sarigumba sought relief in the Court of Appeals (CA-G.R. SP No. 01312-MIN), but t...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals correctly dismiss petitioners’ appeal in CA-G.R. SP No. 01312-MIN on procedural grounds?
- Were the issues decided by the DARAB in DARAB Case No. 10860 superseded and finally settled by the Supreme Court’s ruling in G.R. No. 168394 (the Nicolas, et al. petition), such that res judicata or s...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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